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The Oregon Department of Forestry and the Office of State Fire Marshal have signed a memorandum of understanding with The Oregon Garden Foundation, Moonstone Garden Management, Inc., and Oregon State University to develop the nation’s first full-scale fire prevention and safety house at The Oregon Garden in Silver­ton.

The project involves remodeling the interior and exterior of a 1970s’ era home to showcase exterior fire-resistant landscaping and construction and interior fire prevention and safety.

A $600,000 Assistance to Firefighters grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will fund development of fire prevention interpretive displays for the exhibit. The grant dollars will also pay for production of a video program chronicling the remodeling work. It will serve as an educational tool for homeowners showing step-by-step how to make their own property less vulnerable to wildfire.

Visitors to the Fire Safety House will get a first-hand look at the things they can do to improve the safety of their homes. Exhibits will demonstrate how any home can be retrofitted to improve its survivability in the event of a wildfire, and the best practices homeowners can employ for fire prevention and safety in the wildland-urban interface.

Construction of the house began in early October; the house is slated to be completed in July 2011.